Christian Living

How To Interpret Your Circumstances

Jeremiah 24.4-10 says, God told me, “This is the Message from the God of Israel: The exiles from here that I’ve sent off to the land of the Babylonians are like the good figs, and I’ll make sure they get good treatment. I’ll keep My eye on them so that their lives are good, and I’ll bring them back to this land. I’ll build them up, not tear them down; I’ll plant them, not uproot them. “And I’ll give them a heart to know Me, God. They’ll be My people and I’ll be their God, for they’ll have returned to Me with all their hearts. “But like the rotten figs, so rotten they can’t be eaten, is Zedekiah king of Judah. Rotten figs—that’s how I’ll treat him and his leaders, along with the survivors here and those down in Egypt. I’ll make them something that the whole world will look on as disgusting—repugnant outcasts, their names used as curse words wherever in the world I drive them. And I’ll make sure they die like flies—from war, starvation, disease, whatever—until the land I once gave to them and their ancestors is completely rid of them. MSG

 

The good figs, the blessed by God, were those taken as prisoners from Israel. They were the ones who walked in chains to far off Babylon. Nothing about that event could have felt like a blessing. Yet they were the ones God said were blessed, the ones He was watching over, the ones whose hearts He would return to Himself and eventually would have their ancestors return to the Promised Land.

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August 2, 2021
Christian Living

Are You An Apprentice of Jesus?

Matthew 5.1-3 observes, when Jesus saw His ministry drawing huge crowds, He climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to Him, the committed, climbed with Him. Arriving at a quiet place, He sat down and taught His climbing companions. This is what He said: “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and His rule. MSG

 

Do you long to be with Jesus? Have you apprenticed yourself to Him? Have you paid to learn from Him, to be with Him, near Him, in order to learn from Him? Are you practicing His works to master His ways so that you are easily identified as one of His, having been with Him? (more…)

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June 30, 2021
Christian Living / Judgement / obedience

Who Are We Listening To?

Deuteronomy 29.14-21,29 records, I’m not making this Covenant and its oath with you alone. I am making it with you who are standing here today in the Presence of God, our God, yes, but also with those who are not here today. You know the conditions in which we lived in Egypt and how we crisscrossed through nations in our travels. You got an eyeful of their obscenities, their wood and stone, silver and gold junk-gods. Don’t let down your guard lest even now, today, someone—man or woman, clan or tribe—gets sidetracked from God, our God, and gets involved with the no-gods of the nations; lest some poisonous weed sprout and spread among you, a person who hears the words of the Covenant-oath but exempts himself, thinking, “I’ll live just the way I please, thank you,” and ends up ruining life for everybody. God won’t let him off the hook. God’s anger and jealousy will erupt like a volcano against that person. The curses written in this book will bury him. God will delete his name from the records. God will separate him out from all the tribes of Israel for special punishment, according to all the curses of the Covenant written in this Book of Revelation………God, our God, will take care of the hidden things but the revealed things are our business. It’s up to us and our children to attend to all the terms in this Revelation. MSG

 

The sign of our commitment to God is our obedience to the Word of God. Are we Christians? Then like Christ we seek to obey every word that comes from the mouth of our Father. His word is our bread, His will is our food, living His ways are the sign of the abundant, life giving, waters residing within us. (more…)

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June 24, 2021
Christian Living / evangelism

Getting Over Our Shame of God

John 9.20-23 records, his parents said, “We know he is our son, and we know he was born blind. But we don’t know how he came to see—haven’t a clue about who opened his eyes. Why don’t you ask him? He’s a grown man and can speak for himself.” (His parents were talking like this because they were intimidated by the Jewish leaders, who had already decided that anyone who took a stand that this was the Messiah would be kicked out of the meeting place. That’s why his parents said, “Ask him. He’s a grown man. MSG

 

Fear of men, shame of God, are the result of sin. We were created to love God and to serve Him, to encourage one another to stay true to God and to do His will together. Now, many of us, too often, love men more than God, at least their approval and their opinion. We often fear men despising us more than God condemning us.

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June 8, 2021
Christian Living / evangelism / Judgement

What Marketplace Christianity Looks Like

Luke 12.4-5,8-9 commands, I’m speaking to you as dear friends. Don’t be bluffed into silence or insincerity by the threats of religious bullies. True, they can kill you, but then what can they do? There’s nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, Who holds your entire life—body and soul—in His hands………“Stand up for Me among the people you meet and the Son of Man will stand up for you before all God’s angels. But if you pretend you don’t know Me, do you think I’ll defend you before God’s angels? MSG

 

This is how Christians are to live in the marketplace. The answer to the question, what does it mean to be a Christian in the marketplace, is given here. Fear God alone, and make Him known, so that all might come to know Him as God and Savior. Simple but not easy. (more…)

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May 11, 2021
Christian Living / Theology

Following Jesus Is Not Following The Crowd

Ephesians 4.17-19, commands, and so I insist—and God backs me up on this— that there be no going along with the crowd, the empty-headed, mindless crowd. They’ve refused for so long to deal with God that they’ve lost touch not only with God but with reality itself. They can’t think straight anymore. Feeling no pain, they let themselves go in sexual obsession, addicted to every sort of perversion. MSG

 

Where is the crowd today? It is hell-bent on the road toward sexual perversion. So many who claim to be Christians are joining those who deny Christ on this same road. How? By supporting LGBTQ arguments, these ‘Christians’ advocate for tolerance of their behavior, acceptance of their ideology and even special legal privileges so that they cannot be rejected.

 

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March 24, 2021
Christian Living / heaven

God Wants Us Smart About Him

Luke 16.8-9 observes, here’s a surprise: The master praised the crooked manager! And why? Because he knew how to look after himself. Streetwise people are smarter in this regard than law-abiding citizens. They are on constant alert, looking for angles, surviving by their wits. I want you to be smart in the same way—but for what is right —using every adversity to stimulate you to creative survival, to concentrate your attention on the bare essentials, so you’ll live, really live, and not complacently just get by on good behavior. MSG

 

What does it mean to be kingdom street smart? For this is God’s will for us in Christ Jesus. A clue is found in this passage, we are to be focused on the things above and not be sucked into the things of this world. Like the man on the streets who is wary of the pimp, the drug dealer, the gang leader who might grab him for his own evil purposes, so too the man of God must be wary of the allurement of power, pleasure, and possessions from taking him off God’s purposes.

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March 15, 2021
Christian Living

If You Are Going To Follow Jesus, Then…….

Luke 9.57-62 observes, on the road someone asked if he could go along. “I’ll go with you, wherever,” he said. Jesus was curt: “Are you ready to rough it? We’re not staying in the best inns, you know.” Jesus said to another, “Follow Me.” He said, “Certainly, but first excuse me for a couple of days, please. I have to make arrangements for my father’s funeral.” Jesus refused. “First things first. Your business is life, not death. And life is urgent: Announce God’s kingdom!” Then another said, “I’m ready to follow you, Master, but first excuse me while I get things straightened out at home.” Jesus said, “No procrastination. No backward looks. You can’t put God’s kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day.

 

Three things we must understand if we are going to follow Jesus as His disciples. His call is difficult, His call is about proclaiming His kingdom to men and His call is urgent. (more…)

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February 23, 2021
Christian Living / evangelism / faith

Evidence of Being Right With God

Romans 1.16-17 records, it’s news I’m most proud to proclaim, this extraordinary Message of God’s powerful plan to rescue everyone who trusts Him, starting with Jews and then right on to everyone else! God’s way of putting people right shows up in the acts of faith, confirming what Scripture has said all along: The person in right standing before God by trusting Him really lives. MSG

Are we right with God? If so, then acts of faith show up through our lives. What are acts of faith? (more…)

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February 10, 2021
Christian Living

The Long Road To Knowing God

Matthew 7.13-14 commands, don’t look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don’t fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention. MSG

 

The way to God, to know Him, is vigorous and requires total attention! Of course it does! God is great. He deserves our best effort and deepest pursuit. We must pursue Him. We must pick up the Scriptures, the writings He has generously given to us for knowing Him and how we are to live. (more…)

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January 12, 2021